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BMW M5 Nighthawk special edition revealed in Japan

July 22, 2013

The BMW M5 Nighthawk special edition for Japan features a matter color called Frozen Black. Photo by BMW

BMW has released a special limited edition of the M5 for the Japanese market called the Nighthawk. The special run of just 10 examples will feature a matte paint BMW calls "Frozen Black," which will extend to the 20-inch wheels fitted on the car. Other custom touches will include a blacked-out grille, with the Frozen black paint on a number of exterior details. On the inside, the interior will feature Merino leather in a color BMW calls "Melbourne Orange," along with carbon-fiber touches throughout the cabin.

With a run of just 10 examples, we can't help but think that all of these will be snapped up by collectors and hardly used. With a price tag of ¥18,200,000, or just over $180,000, it's virtually assured that most of these will never top 10,000 miles during their lifetimes. And that's a shame, since the M5 Nighthawk has been beefed up under the hood as well, with the power output raised to 575 hp. The M5 of course keeps the 4.4-liter V8 engine, so the 15 hp bump has been achieved by a slight tuning of the engine software.

The 2013 American-market M5 that we tested started at $91,795, though our car was optioned up to $100,495, still quite a bit below the price of the Japanese-market M5 Nighthawk edition. We often wonder why we rarely get limited edition versions of European sports sedans, so we'd like to remind BMW that they're welcome to release special edition M5s on our shores anytime.